


Alternate Changes

by Crescent_Blues



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence, Alternate way for things to happen, Blood, Gen, Occasional swearing, That first time Dipper rips apart a cult(not to graphic), Transcendence AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-12 00:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4458911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crescent_Blues/pseuds/Crescent_Blues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When finishing off Bill, Dipper accidentally seals him inside of his soul. Everything is okay at first. But then everything starts to change, and Dipper slowly becomes the very thing he defeated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stars

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a post on the Transcendence AU Tumblr that inspired this.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right after the transcendence.

Everything hurt. Everything hurt, hurt, hurt, everything was on FIRE.

Dipper felt like mush, like he would melt into a puddle if he tried to move. He was dimly aware of Wendy and Mabel and Soos and Stan around him, but further away than he could reach.

He was glad Mabel was far away. She was safe...but from what? What was it?

Dipper remembered the plans, how they led up to the backlash nearly destroying Bill… _nearly_. Then what had happened? What had happened? Dipper’s throat felt raw, like if he spoke one word, his throat would bleed. Dipper remembered screaming… _screaming_. Bill had tried to possess him without a contract. And now...Dipper vaguely remembered the the latin incantation to seal Bill away, into the earth-

and then Dipper remembered.

A slip of the tongue as Bill lashed out at him to keep him from finishing to possess him and stay alive, because he knew exactly what Dipper was trying to do. A slip and now Bill was sealed inside something much more personal than the earth. Much more important. Much stronger. And so much more potentially fatally.

His soul.

How was he not dead yet? How was Dipper still alive? He should be burnt to a crisp and on his way to the afterlife, whatever that was.

But instead he was laying on the ground, very much awake, very much in pain, and very much alive.

He wanted to curl into himself when he realized he was covered and surrounded by a lot of blood, which was coming from all of his minor cuts and the three huge gashes across his abdomen from Bill. He painfully arched his neck and saw Mabel and everyone else beginning to stir.

He let a lazy smile cross his face that everyone was all right, no one was dead.

Well except him. He was probably going to die from blood loss, because the binding obviously hadn’t killed him.

He heard Mabel scream as she saw him. He heard Stan trying to tell her to wait a minute. He heard Soos and Wendy run over to him.

But he didn’t feel them carefully lift him up. He didn’t feel the tears from his sister fall on his face as he breathed short shallow breaths. He didn’t see the bright lights of the hospital that hadn’t collapsed. He didn’t hear Mabel scream and fight to stay with him. He didn’t see or feel or hear.

But he had a lazy smile on his face as he drifted off into a dream filled with warm blue fires and woods to endlessly explore and a night sky filled with stars.

And not one triangle in sight.

* * *

Everything was bright. It made him squint and want to move his hand in front of his face, but everything hurt to much. Way too much.

How was he not dead yet?

Dipper groaned and opened his eyes all the way and wanted to hiss in irritation as the light momentarily blinded him.

He looked at himself before he looked at his surroundings. His torso was wrapped in bandages galore and he had a feeling that if he moved an inch, that they would go from stark white to deep bloody red. His arms were wrapped in gauze and his legs felt stiff so they probably were to. He had a number of things poking into his skin and from what he could tell, another roll of gauze around his forehead.

He took a shuddering breath and looked around.

Dipper was in a tan and black room with gray-green wallpaper with the pine forests around Gravity Falls on it. He was in a white bed with tan blankets and sheets and two chairs and a window seat were off to this right. To his left was a bunch of life monitoring equipment and a door that led to a bathroom. Two big cabinets were in front of him in the wall.

He looked at the second door further away on his left and grimaced at the chart next to it.

He’d been out for a week.

He’d been in a coma and nothing had woken him up for a week. Dipper’s first thoughts were about Mabel. Then they spread to the others.

Were they okay? Was everybody okay? Were they super worried about him? Had he caused them any pain? Were they in any pain?

His thoughts were running a mile a minute and he wished so hard that they would walk in and he could tell them *he’s okay*.

Dipper leaned his head back and nearly pulled his stitches when the door that led to the hallway opened.

He smiled at the beaming face of his twin when she saw his eyes were open.

“Dipper!” She rushed over and just barely stopped herself from hugging Dipper. She slowly moved her arms away from him and put them to her sides, eyeing his bandaged torso. He could tell it was talking all her willpower not to rush and give him a hug and wait for the rest of the people with her to walk in.

He smiled lazily at the relieved faces of Wendy, Soos, and Stan, and _was that Pacifica?_ Then he noticed other people. Lazy Susan, Manly Dan, Old Man McGucket, and tons of others. _Was the whole town here?_  Then his eyes froze on the ones of a man who looked just like his Great Uncle.

He squinted and a name came to his tongue. _Stanford Pines_. Dipper licked his lips and held it back.

Mabel beamed at him as people stopped filing in. “We were so worried! We thought-”She looked choked up.”- we thought you wouldn’t wake up. But you did! Everything’s going to be okay, from now on!” She just looked so happy that he was awake, it made him feel like the sun itself was singing his praises. He wanted to feel like that forever.

Stan moved forward and crouched down beside Mabel.

“Kid, we are so *proud* of you. You did an amazingly brave thing out there, and saved the whole world from turning into that triangle’s play thing. You should be so proud of yourself. The whole town is so honored to know you. And Stanford-” He looked to the other man. “-has something to say. Don’t you, Ford?”

Stanford crouched down beside his brother. “You did a better job than I ever would have in your place. Thank you so much from getting Bill’s strings out of my head and setting me free through the portal. I am so proud of what you did today. I am truly honored to be called a Pines because of what you did.”

Dipper smiled.”You were wrong about one thing though. ‘Trust No One’ would have gotten us all killed. But,” Dipper closed his eyes.”You were misled and that’s okay.” He blinked open one eye. “But you did write some lousy spaces in the Journal. ‘Use water, only as a last resort, as that makes it much, much scarier.’ Could be phased better man. But it kept me alive. It kept me and Mabel alive. So that’s okay.” He sighed and closed his eye.

He heard Ford chuckle.”I suppose so. I could have done better, but I wasn’t completely myself. I’m just glad those lousy things did someone good use.”

Dipper heard the end of his sentence, but by then he was slipping back into the cool darkness of dreams filled with mysteries and a pine forest with no dangers.

* * *

Dipper awoke to the sounds of yelling and arguing.

He opened his eyes and frowned at the scene before him.

Stan and Ford were in a screaming match with his and Mabel’s parents and Mabel was quietly trying to shake him awake. Dipper made an angry face and moved to sit up more.

“...look what you did! He’s in a hospital bed, for god’s sake! The world is full of creatures that shouldn’t exist! And it’s YOUR fault! The kids are never coming here ever ag-”

“STOP!”

Five heads whipped towards Dipper.

His parents seemed glad he was awake and coherent, but were barely containing their anger at the Stan and Ford. Stan and Ford looked like they were at their wits end. Mabel looked relieved he had finally broken the sound of screaming with blissful silence.

“Stop yelling!” Dipper huffed.”It is _not_  Stan’s fault! It isn’t even _Ford’s_ fault! It’s _my_  fault.”

His dad scoffed.”Dipper, no offense, but leave this to th-”

“No!” Dipper snarled.”You’re blaming everything on them, when none if it is their fault! Everything is my fault! I made a stupid and cocky bet! I thought I could go against an ancient being of pure energy with no weaknesses unscathed, and I paid the price. Wounds heal. It’s all my fault. Everything going crazy with the world is my fault! If we had known sooner or if I had had a better plan, then maybe things would be better. But none of it is their fault.” Dipper took a deep breath of air and steadied his rising voice.” I did something dumb. I paid the price. Flesh wounds heal. Others-” He thought of his soul.”-don’t. And I can’t change that. Ever. One slip of the tongue can send it all crashing down. I don’t even know why I’m still alive.” He looked at Ford. “I think you can guess what I mean by slip of the tongue. With a demon that powerful, I should be dust. But here I am.” He made piercing eye contact with Ford.

His eyes widened.”You- you’re right. You should be dust.” Dipper’s parents let out alarmed noises, but Ford ignored them. “You bound him. He was supposed to go to the earth, wasn’t he.” Dipper nodded. He knew it was a statement and not a question, but he nodded all the same.” But those wounds let the last few words slip and he had an easy accsess point. I am so sorry, Dipper.”

“What!? What did he do? What happened?” Dipper and Mabel’s parents were shaking.

“There's a demon sealed inside his soul.”

Dipper just solemnly nodded as Mabel gripped his hand harder.

“Dipper, I am so...I will always be here for you. Always. Even if stuff goes weird.” She smiled at him and he smiled back.

Then he looked to his parents. “You can’t make me leave.” He stated.” My injuries will keep me confined to bed unless we seek forest help, and I’m pretty sure you’d be against that. So I’m immovable for the next three to four weeks. And even then, I’ll be barely mobial. Unless we seek out forest help, I’m stuck here and you can’t move me.” Dipper stared at his parents.” So we have two options. Let me heal naturally, orrrr: we seek out magic. It will heal me for my half and you’ll be able to take me home for your half. It’s a balanced deal. But we won’t tell you anything unless you let us come back next summer. We know how to get to the forest folk. You don’t. Your choice.” Dipper closed his eyes and leaned back against his pillow.

“Dipper, you can’t be-” His dad tried to argue.

“I am.” There was something in his voice that made the room go cold.

“We do it my way or we wait.” Dipper stated with his eyes closed.

That seemed to make his dad angry, if the strangled noises and tone in his dad’s voice were anything.”Now listen here, I am your father and you will-”

“No, you won’t.” Dipper opened his eyes and shot a hard glare at his father.”I don’t have to do anything for you. I’m no puppet. I have no strings you can pull. The abnormal is now the norm, and the calm before the storm, is gone. I’m no longer _anybody’s puppet to play with._  Bill is as good as dead and that’s all that matters to me, but I still know what it’s like to feel as if your every move is not your own. I don’t have to do anything for you. I. Am not. YOUR PUPPET.”

Dipper’s hands had curled into fists and his face was contorted into a look of defiance and disgust, the edges of his mouth pulled back in a snarl. He was making a noise in his throat and looked positively infuriated.

While he could see his reflection from a sideways glance at the mirror in the bathroom, he couldn’t tell his irises had gone a shade lighter during his rant.

“Now please, leave, if you have nothing else to say.” He whispered and laid back down, tilting his face away from them.

His face relaxed as everything faded to a rooftop and a sky full of stars with the person he cared about most.

And it was just fine.

* * *

"Dipper! Wake up!" A voice hissed in his ear.

“Wazzat?” Dipper mumbled and opened his eyes and saw that Mabel was three inches from his face.”Under normal circumstances I would yelp and pull back, but right now, I’m too tired to care. What is it, Mabel?” He squinted at his twin.

“Somebody at the window wants to see you!”

“What?” Dipper struggled to remain awake.

“Somebody at the window wants to see you!”

“Who is it?”

Mabel turned around and walked to the window. She breathed on the glass and wrote something. She waited a second and then came back.

“It’s a forest sprite. He says his ‘introduction name’ is Fabian. He want’s to heal your injuries as a thanks for keeping Bill from merging the Mindscape with the physical realm, but also allowing his kind to roam the rest of Earth.” Mabel rubbed her hands together.

Dipper thought for a moment. Then he nodded.”If he asks what our names are...oh!” Dipper carefully lifted his bangs and showed Mabel the edge of his birthmark. “Remember what Dad said about the Big Dipper? One of it’s stars is actually two stars, one revolving around the other. Twin stars. Sooooo, I can be Alcor and you can be Mizar. So we have introductory names.” He smiled softly and let his bangs drop.

Mabel smiled.”That’s a great idea, bro-bro!” She walked to the window and nodded.

A soft green ball of light phased through the window and fluttered towards Dipper.

Fabian bowed and smiled at him. Dipper smiled in return and bowed his head in respect.

Mabel watched from the window, a soft smile on her face.

Dipper returned his gaze to the forest sprite as he lifted his head.

“Hello! My name is Fabian. I am from the forest and I wish to give my thanks by healing the majority of your wounds.” The sprite introduced himself.

Dipper smiled.”Hello, Fabian. Your articulation is very good, not a sound of a lisp anywhere. I am Alcor, and that is my sister, Mizar. I am very thankful that you wish to heal the holes in my flesh caused by the demon Cipher.”

Fabian was staring at him in mild shock and Mabel looked very confused.

“I...I didn’ expect you to actually answer in the tongue of the Fey.” The sprite muttered in English.

Dipper frowned.”I was? Hmm…” He licked his lips and tried to find the words again. They were gone, but he could sort of *feel* the imprint they left in his head. He started to process this and leaned back. He had had a formal tone to his voice and he knew what he had said. Part of him was panicking because _how did he know that?_  And another part was saying to just roll with it and figure it out later when you _don’t_  have three gaping and ready to re-open gouges in his flesh. The latter was sounding more reasonable

He shrugged.”With all the weirdness that’s going on and the fact I was in the middle of the impact crater can chalk up to random knowledge I guess...or maybe I read it in the Journal enough? I don’t think that that is the most important thing right now.” He looked at Fabian and shrugged.” If you feel discouraged and no longer wish to heal me, that is fine. I can heal naturally.”

Fabian shook his hands.”No,no,no,noononono, that isn’t it! I still wish to repay you! I was just...shocked.” He said each word very carefully.

Then he started to move his hands in circles and swirls, leaving runes in the air and marks that burned Dipper’s skin as the magic killed off the old cells and replaced them with new ones in an instant. It was definitely painful, but absolutely worth it. It would work out better in the long run.

He didn’t have to haggle and bargain. This was much safer.

Dipper sighed as the burning turned into a coolness. This was safer. Much, much safer. No deals. No fights. No having to deal with his parents inability to deal with the supernatural. Much safer…

Dipper drifted off as the sprite continued to heal his wounds.

His awareness sunk into a bright green forest under the stars, fill with glowing blue and green orbs of light.

* * *

Dipper shot up and clutched his stomach, wrapping his arms around his stomach and wheezed in pain.

Everything was one _fire_. Everything hurt and it was burning and _everything was closing in on him_. His breathing got faster and he wanted to rip away the walls and the wires and _stick his head out of the window **heneededairNOW**_.

Dipper pulled at his hair with his hands and whimpered because everything hurt and it was to hot and stuffy and the walls were  _right there and it was NOT okay_. He started scratching away the wires and lines poking into his skin and let out a whine as he ripped them all off.

He kicked the covers away and stumbled to the window. He pushed it open as fast as he could and shoved his head, neck, and most of his torso out.

Dipper breathed in the cool air and started to calm down, the fire was gone, the walls were gone, everything was okay. Nothing was there. No fire. No nothing. Nothing hurt, nothing felt like anything, he couldn’t feel anything at all.

He just hung there and let himself drift peacefully. He twisted around and walked to the cabinets. Dipper picked at the hospital clothes and opened the cabinet drawers. He shuffled through them and grabbed some of his clothes.

Pulling the hospital clothes off, he slipped his on and sighed. He walked back over to the window and pushed his body as far out as it could go.

Then he frowned. _Did I just have a panic attack? I think I did._  He looked back into the dark room and made a face. Dipper hung himself as far as he could go when he heard someone make an almared noise. Turning around, Dipper saw Mabel looking at him as though he wasn’t there.

Dipper pushed himself off the window seat and walked towards Mabel.

“How did...how did you do that?” She whispered.

“What?” Dipper frowned and closed the door to his room that Mabel had opened.

“You...one minute you looked see through. Like you were…” Mabel gulped.”...like you were a ghost. Then you were totally solid the next.”

Dipper stumbled at her words.

_What?No, no, no I’m not a ghost, I’m **here** , I just opened a window, I was touching things, I have a body, I’m not dead. Bill’s dead, I’m not. He’s dead, dead, deadeadeadeadDEAD. I’m not, I’m right here. I’m RIGHT HERE_.

Dipper’s breathing quickened and he felt like the walls were closing in around him.

_No,no,nononononoNO. Stop it, stop it, STOP IT._

Dipper stumbled up and pushed himself towards the window and out. He gripped the edges with his fingertips and felt his heart flutter in his chest. He wanted out, out, OUT. He didn’t like it here and he wanted open space, not a small box.

He wanted to push himself out all the way and run, run, run into the woods, into a clearing, AWAY from this place full of small boxes.

“Dipper!”

He turned around, feeling like a cornered animal and his eyes locked with Mabel. She looked panicked, like she knew exactly what he wanted to do. “Please, stay here. I don’t want you to get hurt more.”

Dipper shuddered and slowly sat down onto the window seat’s cushions. He let his head stick out over the threshold and felt his heart hammer into his chest like a caged bird.

He suddenly felt something sit down next to him. He looked at Mabel as she pulled him close. She hugged him tightly and shuddered.

“I thought...I thought you were gonna jump.”

“I was.” Dipper whispered.”I don’t...I don’t like it here!”He whined. He knew he sounded childish, but he didn’t care.”I don’t like it here, it’s cold and small and full of hurt and hate and I want to be out. I want to be out where it’s big and full of warm.” His voice was getting quieter and quieter.”I don’t want to be in here anymore Mabel.”

“I know, Dipper.” She rested her head on his.” I overheard Mom and Dad. They said that we’re leaving tomorrow. They don’t want us to come back.”

Dipper snorted.”To bad…” He mumbled.”I’ll walk here if I have to. I like it more here than I do at home.” He shuffled closer to Mabel.”People like us. We have fun here. We can be whoever we want without complaint. We have friends. We don’t get picked on anymore. I like it here. A lot more than Piedmont.” Dipper said quietly.

Mabel leaned away for a minute and grabbed a blanket. She wrapped it around them.”I know. I like it here too. I like it a lot. If we have to, let’s run away back here next summer.”

“Okay, Mabel. Promise?”

“Promise.”

  
And they stayed like that, drifting off to a shared dream of tall pine tree woods and a sky full of shooting stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dipper ends up having a phobia of confined spaces and not being solid.


	2. Triangles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Important events that take place throughout the full first and half of the second semester of school that really mess Dipper up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one paragraph that's huge, but I've seen people talk like that so, whatever.

AH!”

“Dipper!”

The sound of something shattering rang throughout the house.

Anna Pines rushed down the stairs, he husband having already go to work. The kitchen lights cast a stark shadow across the living room, clashing with the bright sunlight streaming through the windows.

She spun into the kitchen to see a shattered mug on the floor and Mabel holding...air?

“Mabel, honey, where’s Dipper? I heard shouts. Is he okay? Are you both okay?” She started to walk over to the shoe closet and nearly dropped the broom she was retrieving when Mabel said:

“He’s right here...can’t you see him?”

Anna spun around and looked straight at the spot of air Mabel was hugging...could that be…she took a shaky breath.”Sweetie...I can’t see him.” She walked over and crouched down.”But,” She tousled Mabel’s hair and smiled at the air.”I believe you, sweetheart.” She carefully got up and started to clean up the ceramic shards.”Dipper, honey, what happened?”

A moment of silence.

“He says that he was holding the mug to make some coffee- even though I keep on telling him all nighters aren’t good for him and neither is coffee-” Anna carefully picked up the bigger shards.”She’s right, Dipper.” “-and when I walked into the kitchen the mug just...fell through him.” She paused.” You’re not a ghost Dipper, that was _one_  time. And that was a totally different-” She frowned.” Okay, yes this is kind of similar, I lied, but you know what I mean. You were a ghost _one_  time and then you got your body back, this is different. Your whole body stopped being solid.”

“Honey, what do you mean Dipper was a ghost ‘one time’?”

Mabel froze. She looked to the air.”Crap! I do have to tell her cause you can’t! Stop using that to your advantage.” She frowned.”Dip, stop cackling, it’s creepy.”Pause and Mabel moved her head upwards..”Is so!” Pause.”Fine, fine, I’ll tell her.”

“Okay...so this one time...Dipper ended up under lots of stress because he had to deal with zombies one day then heartache then time travel and trying not to _die_  and then some little sentient golf ball people, _while_  I was making him help with putting on this sock puppet rock opera ballad thing, and he was trying to crack this computer password _the whole time_ , and he _may_  or _may not havemadeadealwithademonandgothisbodypossessed,okay,yeah._ ” Mabel puffed out her cheeks and then-

- _pop_.

“Ooof.”

Dipper thumped down on top of Mabel.

He spread his fingers and lifted up one hand, which had a small shard in it. It was bleeding.

“Dipper! Off!”

He laughed and rolled off her.

“Woah.” He walked over to a wall and slid down it while staring at his bleeding hand.

Anna walked over with a washcloth to clean up his hand and he stuck up his non-bleeding hand.

“No, no, it’s fine...pain is...funny...it’s weird.”

Mabel sucked in a breath and Anna turned towards her.

“Dipper...think about what you just said.” Mabel said slowly.

“What? Pain is...funny...oh...OH.” Dipper yanked the shard out of his hand and tried curl into himself.”Why...why would I say that, I don’t know why I would say _that_ , I’m not anything like Bill, no, no, no, nooooooooo. He’s a psychotic triangle dream demon that has no regrets, but I do but I just stopped being solid, how do I explain that, I CAN’T.” He rambled and shuddered.” I need...I need air, I need OU-”

“Dipper!”  
  
His head snapped towards Mabel.

“Calm down, Dipper, it’s okay. It’s okay.” She started to carefully walk towards him, avoiding the shards.” You locked Bill up, he’s as good as dead. But he’s locked up inside _you_. You’re going to pick up _some_  things. And he did possess your body once. Stuff’s gonna stay there, and I think I get where he’s coming from.” Mabel slid down next to Dipper.” Not being able to touch things all the time must make a sensation like pain amusing, it might make you feel alive because you can actually touch something. And you’ve been popping un-solid for a week, so of course it feels funny and weird.” She patted his back then squinted.

“Hey… where did those come from?” She poked his arm and the side of his face.

Anna dumped the rest of the shards into the trash and turned around. She walked over to the twins and sat down on Dipper’s left.

She looked as his right arm the lower half of the right side of his face. She sucked in a breath.

“Dipper, what happened? You’re covered in scars!”

Dipper fidgeted.”I… I jumped off a cliff and punched a robot through one of it’s glass eyes. It got really cut up but I didn’t say anything because Mabel was in danger and I needed to save her and the little twerp just really got me mad. And I may have gotten thrown into a boulder so I wasn’t thinking straight.” Dipper looked away and up at the ceiling.

“Dipper! You didn’t tell me that part!” Mabel punched his shoulder.

“Ow, Mabel! It didn’t seem necessary!” Dipper argued.

“What did you two get up to!?” Anna crossed her arms.

Dipper covered Mabel’s mouth.” In order? We fought gnomes, got chased by a giant mechanical lake monster, were attacked by and fought living wax statues, dealt with a fake psychic that _also_  tried to kill me- y’know I’m starting to notice a pattern with things trying to kill me- got rid of ghosts that were possessing Mabel and trapping teenagers in their store, hung out with some Manotuars and became friends with the Multi-Bear- we play chess and listen to music- fought clones of myself that went crazy and double crossed me even though they said they weren’t going to- I think three and four are still out there actually...hmmm-, discovered the eighth-and-a-half president, traveled through time, fought a video game character in real life, fought an insane candy monster that tried to kill us, caught a Gremloblin with a mace which destroyed the Shack , got rid of it, ran the Shack, Stan lost the bet in the end and I wore a _suit_ , fell into a wormhole and we told stories- we fought a pinball machine, Mabel learned that sometimes you _need_  to lie, that one thing we will _never_  talk about again- and came out again, met a merman- Mabel no, we are not talking about that, you jerk and I know about the picture I found it and _burned_  it ha!- he still talks to Mabel sometimes via messages in a bottle from seagulls, switched bodies, Mabel kept a clone boy band in our bedroom as pets for like a week or something, Stan punched a pterodactyl _in the face_  and we _didn’t_  get eaten by a dinosaur, we got a dream demon to get out of Stan’s head and the little fake psychic twerp took over the Mystery Shack for a while and he found out that I had one of the Journals so he attacked us with a Giedion bot- a giant robotic version of himself- which I punched through the eye and then I punched him and we fell off a huge cliff and Mabel used her grappling hook to keep us from falling to our deaths, and that was just the first half of the summer-” Dipper took a deep breath, but Anna slowly covered his mouth.

“No, no, I’m...I’m good.” Anna took a moment to process.” And...and you did that all over the first _half_  of the summer?”

“Yeah, we didn’t tell Stan about most of it. Did you know that Grunkle Stan throws a good left hook? Cause he punched the heads off of like seven zombies. It was really cool.” Mabel nodded and rubbed Dipper’s back will he took deep breaths and coughed.”Deep breaths, bro. You need to breath, it’s a human necessity. But I think that was the longest sentence you ever spoke.”

Anna looked into space for a while.

“You know what? Not even going to question it. You’re obviously alive and healthy for the most part and you had a fun summer, so lets just...lets just go sit on the couch and watch horrible movies. Okay?”

Dipper and Mabel cheered. Mark joined them when he got home. They had pizza for dinner. They just had an overall great day.

Except for when Dipper dreamt of being surrounded by cracking glass that broke into triangles and blood. And he would wake up every few hours wheezing and hurting. When he finally fell asleep again, it was dark and full of the cracking triangular glass and blood.

* * *

“Mizar, cut it out! You're gonna make the fey fall from laughing so hard!” Dipper playfully punched Mabel’s shoulder and she paused from making ridiculous faces to let out a small ‘Ooof’.

“Thank you for visiting though! I appreciate it most sincerely.” Dipper smiled and waved as the seelie faeries waved back and flew away.

“I wonder why they’re always so polite...Hey, Mabes, why do you-ACK.”

Dipper fell backwards and skidded on the sidewalk, letting out a hiss as the concrete cut his skin.

“Dipper! Hey- let me go!”

“I don’t think so!” A large dark shadow appeared over Dipper and stomped its foot on his chest.” Connect-the-Dots over here hasn’t been picked on for quite some time now. And we want to change that. No muscles, no brains, you’re nothing without your sister! And we have her all tied up over here! So what are you gonna do?”

Dipper stared impassively at him, not struggling anymore. What the bully had said ran over and over in his head. And it was so like what Gideon had said. And it made him mad. This boy had taken his sister and was expecting him to roll over like a dog and let himself be beat on.

Dipper wasn’t going to let that happen.

  
He narrowed his eyes and grabbed the bully’s ankle and pulled to his left. It sent him off balance long enough for him to push himself up.

The bully and his lackeys narrowed their eyes at him in return.

Dipper paused for a second on each of their faces. The head bully was Maxwell Anderson and his three lackeys were Rames and Connor Duncan and Mark Ramirez. All of them were bigger than him. But he smirked. The bigger they are the harder they fall.

Mabel widened her eyes at the smirk on Dipper’s face. That wasn’t a Dipper smirk. That was a Bipper smirk.

Dipper rolled his shoulders and spread his stance. He held up his hand and made a come gesture. And they did.

Ramirez came first, swinging his left arm in a wide arch, but Dipper could see how the muscles were pulled taught in his right. So Dipper moved into the left arm and ducked underneath it as he swung. Now behind him, Dipper fell backwards onto his hands and kicked his legs out in a circle, knocking Ramirez’s legs out from under him. Dipper put a foot on his back and pressed.

“Your down. Who’s next?”Dipper pulled his foot off of the downed boy.

Then came Rames and Connor, passing Mabel to Maxwell first.

Dipper smiled a Bipper smile again. He saw their arms pull backwards on their right and left, so Dipper dropped to his knees and sprung up in between them and dropped back down as their arms and bodies twisted to hit him, hitting each other instead in the throat. They both crumpled to the ground, holding their throats.

“Ooooo, these are almost comical how easy you go down. It’s funny how dumb you are!” Dipper looked to Maxwell.”So I suggest you let my sister go. Or I’ll make you ten times worse than them.” At his, Dipper’s irises and pupils flashed gold and then held. He smirked as Maxwell threw his sister away and charged him.

“So easy to predict. So sad.” Dipper twirled to the side and swept his right leg in an arch, hitting his back and send him down.” Not even one blow! Terribly devastating for your ego, I know.” He slipped out his phone from his pocket and took a picture of the scene before him.”But not as much as this.”

“Dipper!”

Dipper’s smile faded, as did the gold from his eyes. He looked at the downed boys and thought ‘ _I did that. Revenge is underrated and that felt great but...I still feel a little bad._ ’ He remembered the the guide book he and Mabel had wrote. He remember making the copies and putting them in the sack. And he most of all remember the code he had written within the monster hunter certificate:  _they should’ve been nicer to us_. It rang in his ears. _In retrospect this sounds kind of like a super villain manifesto_.

He started feeling sick because he had enjoyed making these bullies suffer and hurting them and making them feel retribution for the sins they caused against him and his sister.

Mabel could let the comment roll off, but he couldn’t. He’d heard Grunkle Stan talk about a PIne’s Family Dark Streak once. Maybe he had it. Maybe it had been pushed to the limits by a certain demon and now it was ready to jump out when ever he got mad.

Dipper made a face and pushed off of Maxwell.

And then he ran.

He ran and ran and ran home and through the door and up the stairs and through his bedroom door and locked it and made sure no one could get in and he changed clothes and threw his bag on the floor and curled up on his bed and cried and cried because something was _wrong_ with him.

Something was wrong with him and that hurt. It hurt that he was broken somehow. He wanted it to stop. He wanted to stop feeling these feelings and just be normal again. He wished Bill had gone into the Earth. He wished he had died instead of living this torture. Maybe that would have been better. But he was here now. And Mabel was hurt. She wasn’t broken, maybe a little cracked, but who wasn’t anymore? He needed to stay with her. He need to stay with his sister. With his twin. His Twinstar.

And despite his less bitter thoughts, his dreams were still plagued.

He saw flashing golden eyes chasing him through the dark, hitting him and cracking his bones every time they touched. And as it broke his last bone through his heart-

\- he woke up howling and spitting in pain. He made an inhuman keening sound. And he cried again.

Because even his dreams were broken.

And even as he fell back into them, the oval golden eyes had gone triangular and a familiar cackle rang through his ears as he was chased through a nightmare.

* * *

“The Doctor says that there's nothing wrong with you Dipper.” Mark stated. It was a fact, but he heard his son mumble something and out of the corner of his eye he saw Anna turn her body to the window. His daughter followed the example while Dipper brought his knees to his chest.

“What was that, son?”

“The Doctors wrong. He’s dead wrong.” Dipper said through his clenched teeth.

Mark frowned but didn’t turn back. He was driving and turning around could lead to an accident, so he waited for a stop light to be red. Then he turned around.

“Dipper, the Doctor’s aren’t wrong. They’re professionals. They know what they’re doing.”

“No, they really don’t. Gravity Falls doctors knew what they were doing. These people are clueless. I’m pretty sure waking up in the night feeling like you’ve fallen off a catwalk- and I know what that feels like, it isn’t just an analogy- and been thrown into a boulder, isn’t ‘nothing’.” His son made air quotes.

Mark made a face and turned around to wait for the light to go green.

“I’m sure you’re just imagining it.”

“I’m really not, Dad.” Dipper pulled his knees closer to his chest.

“And because you keep on saying that, I’ve decided to take us somewhere.”

“Where?” Dipper’s voice was full of dread.

“A church.”

Dipper made a high pitched gruttle shrieking noise and pulled himself as far away from his father as possible.”WHAT?”

“Dad, do you even know what’s going on!? He has a _demon_  sealed inside of his freaking _soul_! Do you know how much that church is going to hurt him!?” Mabel was pulling away too and Anna was following suit.

“Mark, that would be like trying to feed him poison. And he’s already dealing with enough as it is! We shouldn’t force this on him. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Mark scoffed.”It’s just a church.”

Dipper was getting paler and paler the closer they got to their destination and Mabel and Anna were twisting around, holding his hand and rubbing his head.

Mark frowned. Ever since he had sent them to go spend the summer with Stan, Dipper had been different. He acted like a broken mirror, his actions and moods constantly splitting and changing on the dime. A large part of Mark kept on saying that it was an act, but for what he didn't know. But a smaller part knew that it wasn't an act and his son was hurting with a look in his eyes no child should have. Indulging this behavior was the opposite of what he wanted, but Mabel or Anna always seemed to be with him, talking about something. And whenever he came by, they would clam up.

But he knew it all came back to Dipper. Something they weren't telling him about.

He put his foot on the break as they pulled into a parking spot and Mark opened the door.

Dipper balked and let out a whine.

Mark made an annoyed noise.

“Dipper, you need to stop! It’s just a building!” He grabbed Dipper and pulled him out of the car.

Dipper hissed as they got closer and closer and he whined and pleaded and struggled and then Mark touched his back and arms to the church to show him it was _just a building_ -

\- when Dipper let out a howl of anguish and pushed him away. The sound of sizzling and the smell of burning flesh was in the air and even though the clothes he was wearing weren’t marked or seared through, blood was seeping through Dipper’s jacket and he was curling in on himself, crying his eyes out.

“What did you-!” Anna grabbed his shoulders.”Why did you do that? Couldn’t you see he was in pain?”

“Dipper, it’s gonna be okay, it’s gonna be alright.” Mabel was rubbing his head and whispering as she called the ambulance.

They spent the rest of the day in the hospital, Dipper getting his burns treated and Mabel and Anna avoided talking to Mark.

Dipper was helped along by his mother and sister to the car, where he laid down across the seats and laid his head on Mabel’s lap.

His dreams were full of bloody churches and burning triangles. And somehow he knew that he wasn’t the only one who’s dreams were nightmares. Nightmares he didn’t wake from till noon, burning blue and red and bloody triangles running through his head with the sound of mad laughter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Supportive Mom Anna and Twin Mabel, with Freaking Out Dipper and Kind of a Horrible Parent Mark. Dipper starts to clam up after the Church Incident. He starts wearing Mabel's plain sweaters and the ones she makes for him more often, using the neck to hide his mouth in and using the whole thing to cover his knees. He gets quieter and slowly more and more screwed up as he keeps on having nightmares and waking up with searing pain and not talking about it because now he's scared of his dad.


	3. Luwian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little parts of Dipper start to change, the whole school is trying to figure out what happened to him and Mabel, and he comes to terms with what is happening to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luwian is one of the theoretical names for Stan's symbol.

“Mabel, what color is that?”

“Hmmm?” Mabel looked up from the sweater she was knitting.

Dipper had his hand over his eyes and was pointing to a ball of yarn.

“It’s green. Why?”

Dipper sucked in a breath.”But it isn’t. One minute everything was clear and then I blinked and everything went fuzzy for like five minutes. I know that ball of yarn is supposed to be green, but it isn’t. It is like the exact _opposite_  of green. It’s bright and it hurts my eyes. Colors are everywhere and they’re swimming in my face and all over and closing my eyes only helps a little bit.”

Mabel frowned, finished her row, and put her in-progress sweater to the side.

Dipper made a whimpering noise and pushed his hand into his face as hard as could to make the colors just _go away_.

“Dipper, let me see your eyes. And I mean now. No excuses. I know it hurts. I can tell you’re being honest. But I can’t help if I don’t know what's wrong. So I need to see your eyes.” Mabel scooted in front of him and put her hands on the side of his face. He moved his hand away but kept his eyes shut tightly.

“But...what if something’s wrong with them?” Dipper whispered as Mabel brushed her thumbs over two little black brick shaped things near the corners of his eyes. She bit her lip.”Please open them Dipper.”

He made a whimpering noise. Then he covered her eyes with his hand. Mabel made a noise and Dipper said.”One...two...three…”And snapped his hand away.

Mabel sucked in a breath as her blood started to run cold. She stopped that right where it was thank you very much. She tooked a deep breath and looked straight into Dipper’s eyes. He was frowning at her, at the air around her.

“Why are you all purange?” He asked and blinked his eyes that were and weren’t his.

“What?” Mabel rubbed the little black bricks by his eyes.

“The air around you is purange and it’s coming from you. So I’m asking why.” Dipper stated.”Also, you haven’t stated, what are my eyes like? What’s wrong with them?”

Mabel didn’t know how to answer the first question.”Well...they’ve um...we need to buy you sunglasses for the last week of school…they’ve...changed color. A lot. It’s...kind of alarming.”

Dipper let out a whimper and leaned away from Mabel, her hands slipping off of his face.

“Mabes...what do they look like?” He sounded scared.

Mabel didn’t want to tell him so she got up and walked to the downstairs bathroom. She opened one of the wall cabinets and pulled out a mirror. She shut the door and walked out and back to Dipper who was making a face at the TV.

“That is disgusting. Why would you eat mermaid flesh? The whole immortality thing doesn’t work! And they’re people! Screw the mafia and the crumbling economy, that is bullshit right there! _You’re letting murderers walk free you sinful americans!_ ”He hissed.”Be more like Canada! No, wait be more like Gravity Falls! The mailman is a werewolf and so is one of the animal control people! The supernatural should be treated like humans, not mindless beasts to be hunted down, _okaytherearesomeofthoseguysbuthat’sbesidethepoint_ , the point is _we’re people too!*_ ” Now Dipper was making excessive hand gestures and contorting his body in ridiculous ways while Mabel tried hard not to burst into giggles.

 

He was acting so much more like himself than he hand in a long time, since the church incident. But they could all still see the burn marks on his arms and all across his back up to his neck. It was like a stinging reminder that Dipper wasn’t totally normal anymore.

“How would _you_  like it if someone murdered _you_  and ate _your_  flesh!? I bet human’s taste delicious and we would just eat you for fun! With soul sauce or something! Or how about I burn down _your_  home like you did the Portland werewolves!? I’d do it! I would light it all on fire! I would watch it burn and I would cackle! I would watch it go up in flames, fire, fire, FIRE!” Dipper yelled at the TV and made a huge arching gesture with his hands and arms.

To say the least they were startled when Dipper’s fingers caught on fire.

And it was blue fire.

Mabel balked and stumbled for a second while Dipper stared at his hands for a moment.

“Mabel can you get me a glass of water?” He asked calmly.

“Yeah…” She tossed the mirror onto the couch Dipper was sitting on.

Mabel numbly walked into the kitchen and wanted to bang her head into the wall because holy fucking _shit that was BILL’S FIRE HOLYSHIT._

Mabel grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with water from the fridge.

She walked back in to see Dipper holding his fingers very close to his eyes.

“Dipper, what are you doing?”

“Trying to see if I can burn my freaking black and gold eyes out with the fire coming out of my finger tips, Mabes. Just normal teen stuff.” Dipper deadpanned.

“Please don’t burn your eyeballs out.” Mabel shuffled over. She grabbed his wrist and put one hand into the cup. The flames went out and Mabel repeated.

“How is this my freaking life. You have to dunk my hands into a plastic cup of water so that I don’t light the house on fire or burn out my eyeballs.  _How is this my freaking life, **god**_.” Dipper rubbed his face with his damp hands. He squinted at a clock.

“8:30, what…?” He got up.”I’m going to bed. My level of doneness with life has exploded and my mood swing has been particularly fabulous today so I’m going to sleep.” Dipper trudged up the stairs as Mabel snorted.

That night his dreams were warm, the golden eyes that used to chase him became lights in the dark to guide him out of the forest and to a house in a clearing, with a man wearing a fez and a girl with a big sweater. The fez had a claw symbol on it and the sweater had a shooting star. Part of him said they were important. But the other half said ‘who cares, I want to be here, and enjoy it.’

And Dipper did, spending a warm and cosy night dreaming of a place better than Piedmont, guided by glowing golden search-light eyes.

* * *

People at school had seen the burns on his arms and his neck during gym class while Dipper and Mabel were running laps around the building. People had started whispering and when Dipper finally heard them, he freaked out, but in that way that makes you feel like you’re slowly being squished by the biggest and coldest fucking glacier you’ve ever seen and felt. It was like being bulldozed by nature.

“It’s rude to talk about people behind their backs. So I suggest you kids stop before things get interesting. How far do you think I could throw one of you into a tree?” Dipper had said coolly after stepping into the group of whisperers and Mabel knew that he was one hundred percent telling them the truth.

“I’m pretty sure that tree branches hurt when they scratch up your arms and are the only thing to break your fall besides rocks. Who wants to test it?” Dipper had a small menacing smile on his face and Mabel knew he wasn’t lying. And the other kids were starting to get that.

This kid- this scrawny little kid with scars and burn marks all over- would freaking deck them and throw them to the top of a tree. A few hastily stepped back, then ran. Then all of them did.

And Dipper dropped the smile, shuddering. He stumbled over to Mabel and sat down with her, resting his head on her shoulder.

“Mizar, I don’t like school. I really don’t. It sucks.” Dipper had whispered into her shoulder as she carefully helped him change out of his shirt, pushing him away for a moment to pull it over his head, and she knew a few people were peaking over the corner.

The burn marks were swirls and a pair of angelic wings from the depictions on the wall of the church. Dipper thought it was funny because their was a demon in his soul.

She pulled out a clean shirt and some of the salve for his burns. Then Mabel whipped her head around and snarled silently at the peepers who quailed under her gaze and ran. Anybody who asked about Dipper got the deadly gazes from Mabel and cold threats from Dipper if they tried to mess with Mabel.

They had a system and no one really talked to them, because something about them was _weird_. They talked to the supernatural like it was normal. They were tightly knitted together like Mabel’s sweaters and were nigh inseparable. And because Dipper was fucking scary, all on his own.

He was so much more different than before they had gone to Gravity Falls. He was hesitant to trust. He was more protective over Mabel. He was absolutely terrified by triangles and the color yellow freaked him out. He never responded to his real name, only Dipper. His ‘nerd friends’ had tried to become close again or at least interact, but Dipper had shoved them away saying something about ‘ _I’m a danger magnet_ ’ and running off to Mabel who’s old friends were trying to do the same thing with her. Sometimes he got this look in his eyes. Some people even said they’d seen his eyes flash gold. This look that said he knew when you would die and how and he pitied you, that look that looked ancient. But it also looked broken. Sad and sad and sad and shattered. In a way no kid his age should ever look. He was only just barely thirteen. Some said that one moment he wouldn’t be there and the next he was walking with his sister. They all knew that he had beat up Rames and Connor Duncan, Mark Ramirez, and Maxwell Anderson. They all had seen the pictures. They knew it was the truth.

They just didn’t know how.

They did know Dipper had changed. That he could give you a look and you would feel like melting. That he meant every word when somebody threatened or made fun of Mabel and he threatened back. That he could destroy you. That he was for some reason terrified of triangles. That he was freaked out by the color yellow. That sometimes his eyes flickered from gold to normal. That sometimes he wasn’t there at all and then suddenly was.

And they had no idea why. And it scared them.

They had no idea why Dipper Pines was so scary. They had no idea what had changed him. They had no freaking idea why this little kind was covered in scars and burns. They had no idea what it meant when somebody saw him roll cold blue fire in his hand without it burning. They had no idea what to think when he wore sunglasses the entire last week of school.

What they did know was that he had been at the Transcendence. And it had utterly changed him.

* * *

The last day of school was really weird to say the least.

Dipper and Mabel had come to school with suitcases in their hands and bags over their shoulders.

And oh yeah Dipper was _happy_. He was smiling like their was no tomorrow and Mabel was laughing her head off.

Everyone was bewildered at the change in behaviour. He still wore the sunglasses and stayed close to Mabel, but he was talking animatedly. He was making big hand gestures. He was happy and excited.

And then nearly everybody did a spit take when Dipper and Mabel walked out the doors first when school ended, and they were lifted onto the shoulders of some Manotuars.

“PINES, PINES, PINES!” They shouted in unison and the supernatural around them roared or shouted or made some baziar noise with them.

Dipper’s sunglasses fell off, and while the supernatural just roared in joy harder, it made the whole schools blood run cold.

Because Dipper’s sclera was black and his irises and pupils were gold.

“GRAV-ITY-FALLS! GRAV-ITY-FALLS!”

To say the last day of school was uneventful would be such a lie somebody would throw you into a bucket of cold water because this was the strangest thing they had ever seen.

The Pines twins were sitting on the shoulders of Manotaurs while surrounded by griffins and gnomes and fairies and _was that a bear with multiple heads_? and laughing and yelling like tomorrow was the best thing in the world. They were fist bumping and going ‘bwooosh’ and making weird faces but it was the happiest they had seen Dipper and Mabel since they had gotten back from Gravity Falls.

Gravity Falls, where the Transcendence had been. Where, some people whispered, the PInes Twins had been at the middle of. Where they wanted to go back so badly. That made Dipper break out in a grin and talk and be excited. That made Mabel laugh again and knit sweaters in 10 minutes and be more happy than they had ever seen her.

And that was the part they were most confused about.

* * *

“Whoo hoo!”

Dipper and Mabel were laughing and giggling and smiling and were so excited as they ran up to the Shack when the door opened and Grunkle Stan and Ford walked out.

They were talking animatedly in a language that Mabel couldn’t grasp but Dipper’s eyes widened with each word and he took a step back.

Stanford’s eyes froze on Dippers and he kept on backing away until he was closer to the tree line than to the house.

When Ford’s hand started to go to his crossbow, Mabel kicked into action.

She snatched the crossbow.

“NO!” Mabel hit his arm.” We do not shoot Dipper!”

He frowned.”Mabel, have you not seen his-”

“Yes I have!” Mabel shouted.

Staley looked at Ford.

“ Poindexter, that’s your great nephew. Mabel isn’t stupid. _Ford_.” He grabbed his brother’s shoulders.”Ford, Dipper has been possessed before. Mabel knows what it looks like. She knows what it looks and sounds like. They even have a system for when it happens. Listen to her.” Grunkle Stan shook his brother by his shoulders.

“HIs eyes though...and his aura-”

“You can see that stuff too?” Mabel asked.

“What?” Ford turned his eyes to Mabel while Stan carefully crept over to Dipper.

“His eyes changed when he started to see the colors. He says he sees them swimming everywhere and they hurt to look at and some colors don’t look like what he knows they’re supposed to. Sometimes he has names that don’t make sense for them. Other times he’ll ask why someone one is purange or blellow. But that all happened after his eyes changed and he got these little bricks on the side of his eyes.

“HE DID WHAT!?”

Mabel and Ford’s heads turned to where Stan had shouted and was looking at Dipper’s burns.

“I’LL GUT HIM LIKE A FISH, I DON’T CARE IF HE’S FAMILY, THAT LITTLE-”

His rant was cut off when Dipper grabbed Stan’s arms and hugged him.

Stan seemed surprised at first but then he sat down and Dipper hugged him tighter, and _was he crying_? Stan and Dipper were crying and hugging each other. Dipper was squeezing him hard around the waist and Stan was carefully avoiding his burns but hugging him all the same.

Ford and Mabel never actually knew what they said that day. They wouldn’t tell them.

“I missed you, so much, it was awful there and I just wanted to come back, I missed you and Wendy and Soos and I missed you so much.” Dipper had rambled through his tears and Stan was shocked and silent for a minute.

“I missed you to, kid. I missed you a lot.”

They spent the summer in Gravity Falls, and while some people were unnerved by Dipper’s eyes at first, they got used to it and Dipper and Mabel were so freaking happy, because people accepted them and liked them it made them so glad they were back.

Throughout the whole summer Dipper’s dreams were full of a house in the woods with two men and a girl. One had a fez with a strange symbol, the other wore glasses with a crack in it. The girl wore a sweater with a shooting star on it. And as the summer went on, more and more people appeared. A teenaged boy and girl, wearing a zipped up hoodie with a stitched heart on it and the other carrying a bag of ice respectively. A blond haired girl his age with llama-shaped earrings. A big man with a question mark on his shirt. A little blond haired boy with a star on the back tied up in a corner. Three journals with six fingers on them.

And it was Dipper’s favorite summer yet.

* * *

Stanford was extremely alarmed when he saw Dipper’s hand on fire.

He was holding it at a distance from himself and was turning on the sink.

“It does this a lot.” He stated as he shoved it under the running water.”Stupid...magical...fire…” He huffed and looked at Ford.”I know it looks like his fire. I’m not stupid. I’ve picked up quirks too. I wake up in the middle of the night in searing pain. I pop incorporeal all the time. I know there’s something wrong with me.” He leveled a gaze with him.” I know I’m not normal. I know you're frightened of me. Part of me, this little part I hate but don’t, thinks it’s amusing, but most of me thinks it’s alarming. And I’m pretty sure you know what’s going on.”

Dipper cocked his head to the side.”But I’ll give you a few freebies: Churches make me sick. Touching it physically burns my skin. Sage and crosses make me queasy. Salt burns me.” He rubbed his hands together.” My eyes change and suddenly I can see colors everywhere and around people and I can see things perfectly in the dark. I can light my hands on fire with no burns. I’ll let you put the pieces together, because I really don’t want to think about it. Better somebody else tells me then I tell myself.” He stiffly pushed past him and up the stairs to the attic.

Ford stood there for a moment as all the pieces of information clicked together in his head.

And then he numbly walked over to the table and sat down in one of the chairs. He ran his hands through his hair as the answer ran around in his head.

He didn’t want to think about it, because it should be impossible and he didn’t want the kid to deal with that kind of emotional turmoil and just the knowledge in general. Because no one should have that fate.

But Dipper did. And he would have to tell him in the morning.

He banged his head into the table and fell asleep there.

Dipper had stayed on the stairs in the dark and watched his reaction.

He curled up on a step and started to cry. Because he knew exactly what would cause those expressions to come to light.

He knew exactly what was wrong with him, even though he really didn’t want too.

His dreams were full of a man with a fez and a girl with a sweater. And they didn’t do anything. They just sat on the roof of the house in the woods, the girl on his shoulders and him in the man’s lap while the sky lit up with fireworks.

* * *

Mabel and Dipper really didn’t want to leave for the school year.

But they knew that their parents would come and get them if they didn’t.

So they said their goodbyes and promised to come back next year.

Soos and his grandmother, Wendy and the friend group, Pacifica against her parent’s wishes, the whole freaking town, Stan and Ford, and all the mythical creatures of Gravity Falls. Or at least most of them.

Dipper sat with the multi-bear most of the time before they left after saying goodbye to everybody and Mabel had been talking with Grenda and Candy, when Dipper was hit with a bucket of water.

And he let out an anguished howl while the Manotaurs ran after the man who had thrown it and the multi-bear got all of it off him as fast as possible. He was crying as steam curled off of his skin and his hands dug into his head.

The fey were around him as soon as possible, tracing glowing ruins in the air as Dipper’s cries faded to mere whimpers and the new burns faded away, leaving only the ones from the church, albeit much paler against his skin.

Dipper was still crying as the multi-bear picked him up and sat down, holding him in between his forelegs.

The Manotaurs ran back with a man in a robe struggling in their arms, shouting curses.

Mabel run up the man and was enraged.

“WHAT’S YOUR DEAL!? You nearly killed me brother, you monster!”

“You have all been blinded! I’m no monster, he is! He’s a demon! I tried to save all your lives! He will destroy you! He will-”

“SHUT UP!”

Dipper slid out of the multi-bear’s arms.

“You don’t know me! You don’t know who I am! I know what I am, I’m not stupid! You don’t know me! You don’t know my story! You don’t know anything! You are a CHILD! You know NOTHING! You don’t know what I’ve had to do! You know nothing about me!’ Dipper was screeching at the man while hot, thick tears ran down his face and little black bricks were crawling up his arms from his fingertips.” Stop thinking just because you have an idea everybody will agree with you! They won’t! You think this town is stupid!? Of course they know something's wrong with me! They’re smarter than you give them credit!” He was getting quieter.”They know I’m not normal anymore. I know what I am. I know I’m a monster.” He whispered the last part and rubbed his face with his arm and walked away to the multi-bear.” Let’s go. I’m tired. You can do whatever you want with him. I don’t care. I finished.”

And with that, he popped into the Mindscape, where only a few could humans and the supernatural could see him. And Mabel of course.

He floated up to the multi-bear's back and sat cross legged above his shoulder.

The Manotaurs growled at the man and two of them dragged him away to who knows where. One of the Manotaurs picked up Mabel and the other picked up their bags.

Mabel fell asleep soon into the trip while the town behind them was processing things. Because they were fairly sure Dipper had said ‘I know what I am. I know I’m a monster.’ after the man had called him a demon.

But it was Dipper. And they knew him.

So they trusted him, regardless of what he may or may not be.

Dipper popped back onto the physical plane on the multi-bear’s back when they were halfway back.

He stared at his hands. At the bricks crawling across his skin. It made him feel sick. He really was a monster. No more denying. He rubbed them together and felt the little points on his fingertips. He had claws. His eyes were void black and brick gold. He could light burning blue flames on his hands. He would pop in and out of the Mindscape.

He was a demon.

Or he was at the least becoming one.

He started to silently cry. His shoulders shook and his throat caught and his tears were sticky and _why was this his life_? He was never going to go to highschool like a normal person. He was never going to date or marry or have any family. He was never going to get to do so many things.

His thoughts kept going darker and darker until he hear humming. He sniffed and looked at the multi-bear’s main head. He was humming.

It was soft and quiet and a little off key.

But Dipper smiled as the gentle version of the song ran through his mind and he laid his head down and spread out across the multi-bear’s back.

His dreams were warm and soft and fuzzy, and he was surrounded by tons of people and creatures and they were all smiling at him. They were hugging him and telling him that they loved him or that he was the best and that _they trusted him_.

  
And that would be the best dream Dipper would have for months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When talking about the supernatural sometimes Dipper says 'we' and not 'they' and nobody notices.


	4. Shooting Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper's time becoming a full fledged demon.

“How do you think they’ll react?”

Mabel shrugged and stepped from foot to foot as she hopped across the dirt behind their backyard where the Manotaurs and the Multi-bear had dropped them off. “I dunno, brobro. We can keep your eyes a secret but…” She looked at his forearms. The inky black bricks were still there on his limbs, his fingers tipped in sharp points, and little bits of gold in between the rectangles.

“Yeah… _’Hey, you’re son happens to be turning into an all powerful demon now, sorry’!_...” Mabel let out a cold laugh and looked up at DIpper’s face, making him wince. Dipper winced every time Mabel looked him. It hurt that she had to look at him like this. It made Dipper feel sick. He shuddered. And then froze.

Somebody was watching them. He could feel it.

He whipped around and pulled Mabel behind him. She made an annoyed and then worried noise as she realized what he was doing.

Dipper hissed and lit his hands on fire.

“Co̶me ̷oùt,̡ com҉e out͝, w͏h͢er̡e͜ ͞eve͡r͏ ̡you arę!” Dipper could feel the demonic echo in his voice and he felt Mabel stiffen behind him. But that didn’t really matter as his focus zeroed in on a too-dark shadow.

“I͜ ̶s̷ee͘ y҉ou~!” Dipper purred and the flames on his hands intensified.

“Dipper-”

“I know.” Dipper whispered coldly.

She fell silent behind him.

The too-dark shadow twitched and then moved, running towards them with-

was that silver?

It was liquid silver.

Fuck.

Dipper grimaced and spread his arms wide to keep it away from Mabel.

Dipper let out a deep growl as the metal splashed across his skin. He closed his eyes against the pain but they snapped open when he heard Mabel let out a yelp as a few droplets managed to hit her skin.

And then he started to laugh. It was quiet at first, but then it got louder and louder.

“ Ýo͞u͏̵͞ th̡i͏̨nk͘͜ ͏à̕͝ ҉l҉̶̴i͠ttl̨̛̕e ̡s̶͞il̨v̢̨͞e̸̶̕r͟ ͏̛įs͟ ͏g̕o̴͠nn̢̨͢a̵̕ ̡͜s̵t̀͞o̕͘͜p̷̧͘ ̧͘m͠e?͏ ́̕Í͞͡'͟͞m͜͏ ͘͠b҉e͏c̨ǫm͟i͡ńg̕ as̛ ͞p̴o̕w͜͏e͏҉ŗf̢ư̵l̛͏ ͜͠a̧̕s͟͠ ́̕B́Ì̵LL̢̢̡ ̸͝F̀͘͠U̧͟C͘K҉̶̵I̴̕N̶G̴̀ ́CI͟Ṕ̴̨H͞ER͢!̡ ̨̕͜Ẃ͟HO̷̧ ̀D̢͡O ̷̀͡Ý̸̧O̷͢͞U̢̡̨ ͜͡T̀H̡I̕N͡K̶̛͏ ̡҉K͘I̷L̨L͏͟E͜D͏͝ H́͡I̢͡M҉̴?̢!̡͝?҉͜ ̴Ą͟ ̷Ļ̷͝I͞T̸̶͝TĻ͠E͟ ̶͝ME͏̛̀T̨A͢͡L̕͢ ͘I̛S͢N̵'̨T͢͏̶ ͞G̵͘͟O̸̧͠N̛͢͢N҉̡A ̡҉B̵͟A͡͠Ņ̴͡I͟Ś͠H̢͜͟ ̴͢҉ME̢͟!͜͜͡” Dipper howled and his eyes trailed gold. The bricks started to crawl up his arms again, but this time, they were darker than black. They were void.

Dipper felt great.

“S̴O͠ ͠S̛͠T̴AY̢ ̡҉T̵H̸͢E͝͞ ́H̛͢͡E҉LL̢͜͠ ̸̀ÁW̷͠A̕͟Y̡͟͝ ̨͢F͘͜R͏̡O̸Ḿ̕͡ ̸M̡͜͞E͠ A̴̧͡N̵D͢͢ M̨Y S̶̨H͟O͠O̵̢͜T̡̛Ì҉N҉G ͘͜S̀͟Ţ̡A̕͡R͘!” He roared. He was annoyed. This stupid mortal had challenged him. _HIM_. How stupid were humans?

The human stayed where it was and started to pull something else out of it’s jacket when the ground in front of it split into a gaping maw of the earth.

Dipper’s head was screaming at him to tone it down- for Mabel. He wanted to shrug it off, he wanted to make this mortal pay, but instead he listened. Mabel wouldn’t want him to kill somebody and he knew most of him would feel really guilty later. Just because he _was_  becoming a demon, that didn’t mean he had to _totally_ act like one.. He hissed, growled, and then clenched his hand. The earth pulled itself back together.

“Le̵͝a̷̸̶v̨͡e͝.”

Dipper narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. The human took a step back. Dipper took another step forward. The figure turned and fled.

Dipper stood still as stone. And then he collapsed. He curled into himself and let out a strangled gurgle. What had he just done? He’d almost killed somebody. He had nearly *killed* somebody. Then his thoughts started to branch around. He remembered when he had summoned those zombies. He remembered not feeling guilty at all when he thought those agents had been killed. He remembered wanting to let a murderous ghost on the loose and not caring about what would happen, the only thing stopping him was _Mabel would get hurt_. He remembered not caring about a lot of things like that.

He put a void-like hand to his mouth and made a choking sound. And he’d had all those thoughts when he was human.

_They should have been nicer to us_  rang in his ears. He let out a strangled sob. What was _wrong_  with him. Tears ran down his face and he shuddered again as sobs racked his body.

He felt somebody slip their arms around him. He struggled for a minute and felt the arms tighten. He stopped when they threatened to crush his ribs if he struggled anymore.

So he fell limp.

“Thanks. But I think you went a bit over the top.” Mabel said, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood. Dipper could tell.

It didn’t really work.

“Mabel...don’t you get it?” Dipper whispered hoarsely.” I almost killed a person. I’ve almost killed a lot of people and it’s never bothered me before! When I was getting rid of the ghost in Pacifica’s manor” His voice shook.”... I almost let it loose. The only reason I didn’t was because you were there. That was the only reason. When I summoned those zombies, I didn’t care or even spare a thought for those agent guys. Not one. And all of that was when I was *human* Mabel. What’s _wrong_ with me!?” Dipper’s tears were running down his face, hot and sticky and he was making himself feel sick all over again. They hung in the air for a moment like stars and then disappeared.

Mabel squeezed him tighter. “ Nothings wrong with you...nothing’s wrong with you brobro…You’re a demon now...demon’s aren’t always user friendly.” She held him tight.” But you can’t run away from it. Otherwise it’s gonna eat you up.” Mabel started to stand up and Dipper flowed up with her.”So, how about we go home and relax?”

“Mmmhmmm.” Dipper shuddered and flicked his hand out in a long motion.

Dipper watched Mabel realized the world around them had gone gray and, as Dipper finished the hand motion, the color slowly start to seep back in.

“Sorry, Mabes. I called you Shooting Star.” He shuddered and pulled himself away from her to go pick up their bags.

“It’s okay.” She whispered.

“No, it really isn’t.” He muttered. He knew she heard him, but she didn’t say anything.

Dipper lifted up the bags, not really feeling the weight.

Mabel pulled him closer to her and smiled at him. It was one of her the-sun-is-singing-your-praises-and-so-am-I smiles that made Dipper feel warm and like nothing had changed. Like he wasn’t a monster.

Dipper gave her a soft smiled back and turned his head to look behind them.

He narrowed his eyes and set down one of the bags. He raised his free hand and breathed in and out. A wall of tall blue fire erupted from the earth and spanned out to encompass their backyard and most of their house. It dimmed and calmed until is was a faint blue orb and then disappeared. He let out another smile, this one of relief.

They were safer. No more silver burns on Mabel. No more near murders.

Dipper turned his head back, picking up the bag he had set down and letting out a small sigh. He started to walk forward, but then stopped. Something was nagging at the back of his head, saying he could do this faster.

So he listened.

‘ _Brace your feet_ -’

He spread them wide as Mabel asked him what he was doing.

‘- _push down with your whole body_ -’

He lowered himself as Mabel back up.

‘- _let your body build up pressure_ -’

He waited and let a smiled cross over his face. It wasn’t a nice one.

‘ _-and **let go**._ ’

He pushed off the earth.

He let out a mad and gleeful laugh.

He crashed to the earth like a rock in front of the back of their house.

He dropped the bags and pushed off again, letting out more mad laughter.

He felt amazing.

Dipper felt this rising euphoria as he let his power loose. He stopped bottling it up. He let the world around him go gray. He let the bricks claw themselves all over his body. He let the earth behind his house etch his circle into itself. He didn’t care. He felt free.

He let out more laughter. He was in the sky. Nothing was making him fall. He just hung there. His humanity told him to tone it down. He didn’t want to.

He twisted around and looked at the earth beneath him. Two circles, one inside the other, with a star in the middle of the smaller one. He saw the symbols Bill had used for him, Mabel, and Grunkle Stan. He saw the triangle with the eye in it, screaming about where he was from. He giggled and spread his hands wide. Then he froze.

Mabel was looking up at him. And she looked terrified. He could see two figures standing in the backyard’s doorframe, clinging to each other.

Dipper let out a choking sound and curled his body into himself. The scratches in the earth erased themselves and the color pooled back into the world. He pulled the bricks, his demonic power, back into himself. He let them recede into his skin. He let out another gurgle and pulled himself away from reality.

Because he had lost himself.

Because he hadn’t cared what happened around him.

Because he had let his demonic power free.

Because Mabel had been afraid.

* * *

Dipper stayed away for a week.

He stayed where he was, thinking about what had happened over and over again.

And then he had felt a tugging sensation in his stomach. Or where his stomach would be. He didn’t have a physical form right now.

He let himself be dragged along and was surprised to find himself in Mabel’s room.

He twisted around and looked beneath him. His circle was drawn on the floor in chalk and two droplets of red were at the edge.

Dipper furrowed his brow and looked up in confusion.

And his gaze was met with Mabel’s.

He widened his eyes and jerked back. He felt the circle’s bonds on him strain for a moment, and then snap. The chalk lit up in blue for a moment and Dipper pulled away from Mabel.

He shuddered and felt trapped under Mabel’s gaze.

Dipper pulled into himself, trying to keep Mabel from seeing as little of him as possible.

“Dipper, you look terrible. Are you okay?”

Dipper snapped his head away from his knees.

“No! I’m not, Mabel! I lost myself, don’t you get it!?” He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes.” Mabel, you were terrified! Of me! It-” He choked on his words.”- it made me feel sick. It made both parts of me feel sick.” He shuddered.

“Dipper, come here. Please.”

Dipper pulled away from her more as tears fell from his eyes freely.

And then something happened.

Mabel grabbed onto him. While he was intangible.

And pulled him into her arms.

He hung there for a moment, stiff.

And then he broke down.

Tears ran out of his eyes and sobs racked his body and made his throat feel sore. He felt Mabel’s tears spill down his neck and catch in his hair and run over and catch in his clothes and they clung to each other.

“Don't ever disappear for that long ever again. Please, Dipper.” Mabel whispered into his ear as she pulled him closer.

“Okay, Mabel.” Dipper choked out.

“It’s okay if you let loose sometimes. It’s hard. I can tell from the looks you get on your face when you think I’m not looking. Please though, just tell me when something’s wrong.”

“Alright, Mabes. Alright.”

He felt worlds better, even though he was covered in tears, his and Mabel’s. Even though he was a demon. Even though he sometimes lost himself. Even though he wasn’t human. Even though he wouldn’t be able to be with Mabel all the time.

Because Mabel didn’t hate him.

* * *

Dipper was spilled across Mabel’s lap when his parents saw him for the first time.

They saw him with claws and with black and gold eyes and with sharp teeth.

Both of his parents took steps back as he pushed his whole body closer to Mabel and she wrapped her arms around him. He pulled his hands close to his chest and folded his fingers. He closed his eyes tight as he turned his head into Mabel’s shoulder. He clamped his mouth shut, putting it in a thin line.

Mabel’s arm’s curled over him and she rested her chin on his head.

“Mabel- what-” He heard his dad choke out. He sounded horrified.

“Mabel, honey- is that- please tell me it is-” His mother sounded world's different. She sounded hopeful and sad. It made him feel a little bit better.

He numbly felt Mabel nod her head. He barely felt another set of arms curl around him. He barely felt more tears spill down his back.

He shuddered and let himself melt into the two embraces.

Dipper felt a strangled sob escaped his mouth. He felt his hands uncurl and then re-curl into Mabel’s sweater as their mother kissed the top of his head.He felt his eyes open and spill tears.

Because his mother still loved him. Because his mother and his Twinstar still loved him.

* * *

Dipper watched Mabel write something down in the corner of her spare notebook to him at lunch.

_‘How are you today? The walls aren’t oozing green slime, so it isn’t horrible, right?_ ’

A smile cracked across Dipper’s face as he pressed one intangible finger to the air above his twin’s notebook before it could flutter through his hand in the breeze.

Small words in his handwriting spill across the page.

‘ _So far no one’s found out about my circle, so that’s good. I don’t have to deal with any summonings that aren’t yours. And Mom went out and bought me some ice cream for later. How are you?_ ’

Mabel smiled at the words and looked up at him in the corner of her eye.

He floated around her as he played with her hair, making it look like the breeze. It was a nice day outside so Mabel had sat out at one of the outdoor tables near the trees planted behind the cafeteria. They circled around the school and made it nice and shady, shielding most of breeze from them. They were the only ones outside today, and Dipper was okay with that.

Mabel started to write a response to him when a hand passed through Dipper and grabbed Mabel by the back of her magenta Shooting Star sweater.

She let out a strangled yelp as the sweater’s collar caught her and dragged her backwards. Dipper spun around and let out a growl as he laid eyes on the person who had grabbed his Twinstar.

She was pulled to the side, off of her seat on the bench and onto the dirt. Blood started to bloom on her hands.

Dipper’s eyes became slits as he stared into the face of Maxwell Anderson.

“What are you gonna do now? Your freaky brother isn’t here to save you! I say we deserve a little payback for what your brother pulled.” He pulled Mabel up, shaking her, and she let out a whimper as the blood on her hands started to drip.

And that made Dipper snap.

The breeze died. The world’s color started to leech. Shadows pooled and gathered from the walls, making a circle around them.

Dipper felt himself slip out of the Mindscape as a feral growl ripped out of his throat.

“ W̷͙͖͍h͖͟a̛̙̼t͕ ̸͖̜̣͕t̛͚̖̤h͡e̢̪͉͚͇̲̤ ͎͉h̡̰̼̩͖̠͓͓e̷l̘͚͓̩͖l̢̥̼̺̻̣̹̪ ̡d͍̜̀ọ̺͉̣̞ͅ ̰͔̻̘̫͜yo̯u̙͔͎̙͙ ̗̗͎̣͔͙̖͟t̡h̴̗į͓̠n͙̯͔̼k̰̹̝̘̰̭͔ ͉y͔͖̺̼̖͎̙o̦̗̦͞u̶̜'̜̝͎ͅr̤͢e̩ ̘̥d͙͓͓ơ̬i̩̤̲̠̺̪n̪̝̻͕͍ͅg̛̥̟ͅ?” Dipper whispered as the Maxwell and his lackeys stared at him with wide eyes, fear blooming in their depths.

“What the-” Connor Duncan backed up, all the way to the shadow ring.

“ I̯ ̠͚̼̳͉͎ͅş͕͎̰̦ͅá̪̰̗̝i̗̠d͍̳̼,͚̦͍̜̲́ ̷͚̤͖̹̩w̼̪͈̝͝h͖̳́at ҉ͅt̬̞h̰̤̞̲̰̮̦͢é͉͕̯̮̰̫̫ ̲̘̗̼͖͟h̛̖͚͙̗̖̳e̜l͉͍͔̥̲̱̩͝l̪ ̨͕͈̪̣̮̼d̘͇̥̻̥̘̟ơ̩̰̝ ̳y̴͙̯͚o͇̗̠̱̥̰̮ų͎̮̟̜̩ ͏̞͚̭͈̪̪t̘̣̣̘̤̯͙͟h̶i͎̰̳̜nk̳ ̛̯̙̜̗̗yͅou̢̘'̗̥͍̲̩r͉͓̤͕̰͚e͓̫̯͝ ̺̱̼͕͕͓̬d͚̱o͓̟͇͚̣̫i̥̙n̷̺̙̥̤̙ͅg̺̪̣̲̯͠ͅ ̳̹͕͜t̫̠̼̹o̢͙̮̺͉̼̟ ̪̭̳̤̪m̠y̖̠̠̥̬̲̦͜ ̗̻̱̬͈̥͡s̹̤̻͍͍͓i̢̹͕̟̩s̺̹͇̪te̦̙̗r̴?” Dipper said, louder than last time. He let the bricks start to crawl over his body. He let the fire light in his hands. He let his mouth pull into a menacing snarl filled with two rows of sharp teeth and a forked tongue.

And he let the students gather at the windows to watch.

Maxwell let go of Mabel and Dipper grabbed her before she could fall. He held her, bridal style in his arms. He grimaced at all the blood and locked eyes with her.

He could see it. She didn’t want him to follow through.

He jumped out of the circle and hovered where everyone could see him.

“Ḭ̷̙̪f͓̭̣̹̝̙͔ ̀a̵̤̩̳͈̣͈n͎̮̻y̗͍̝̕ ̵̞͓̪ͅo͉̠̭̬̬͠f͎̥̟̝̳̟̻ ̖̖̫̹̫͔y̮o̟u̜͕͎̥̬̫ e͙ve͈̙̫̰͖͍r͕̕ͅ ̼m̥̜͎͡e҉s̥s̢̪̳̞͓̜̦ ̬͉͟w̳͝i̫̘͕t̥̣̺̞́h̠̪̝͚͎͙͖ ͎̼͓͇̯͘m͖̪̤̳̲̲y̪̜͔̮̬͘ ̹͠s̝͙͙̦̘̠i͕͇̺̭̦s̟̼͕͓͓͎͔͟t҉̯̦̗̪è̙̥̺͖̗̖̱r̳̖̫̤̦,̜͉͓͙̙̙̞ ̱̬̖͉̤̜̗Ị̣̼̖͎͙͡ ͉̫̭̯̜w̶̤̝̬̫͓i̺̬͢l̰̦͚̼͔l̗͎ p̮l͉̳̼̠̤͉̩a̹͕̞̩̯̰͍g̛ṳ̮̹͚̫e̷̤̬ ̴͔̲̤ỵ͔̬͇̕ơ͉̭̼͚ͅu̙͕̺͢ w̫͙͘i̵͍̘̮̖̮t̫̳̣͜h ̦̗̭̟̤͇ͅn̮̦̻͉i̪̜ͅg̪̱̖̱h̝t̰͉̝͎m̘̟͇a̩͇̠̖͓͢r͝è̞s̀ ̛͙̟̟f̡̞͖̱o͓̼̕r̙͚̥ ͚̠̠͘t͈̪͙̞̠h̷̪͇̰e͢ ̸̮̯re͚̝s͍̥͙̠ͅṭ̳̫̣͇͖ ̡̬͎o̢̺̺͇f̻̪͉ ̺̻͍̺̯̤̱y̧o̙̙͜u͕̩͈̰̹̞r̰ ̬̯̞͎l͎̝̻̭͖̱̦i̳̥̟͓ͅf̷̜e̼̥̹.̙̩̼̲̖͎̤͜ ̲͚͕̕I̺̘̦̼̘͍ͅf̖̮̞̘̗ ̞̖y̟̼̜͕̜̙̫o͕͖̜ṷ̝ ̶̹͇̪̝m̛a̡k̝̘͖̻̖͙ͅè͙ ͏̱̻ḩ͚e͎͇r̢̬ ͖̖́b̺͉̜͍̻͈l͙̦͓̝͡ͅe̡̤̯ẹ͕͟d̖̝̳͕,̠͍̭͙͘ ̱̬̘̬ _I҉̱̳̥̠̻͚ ̞͉͔̻̹͕̥w̡̞͓̳̘̜͔i͏l̫̫̹͈̳̳l̛̞̭̥̝̭ ̖̟̙̞̘̻ȩ̜n̮̗d̲̥̩̯͈̼ y̰̞̖͖͚o̠͔̬u̺̘͓.̥̹̞̥̺̯̬͘_ .”Dipper hissed and snapped his fingers. The circle disappeared and the color swept back into the world.

He growled at Maxwell and bared his teeth.

The group of bullies fled and Dipper let gravity slowly re-take him, floating gently down to the earth. He helped Mabel stand and his head snapped to the window fill with kids his age watching with wide eyes. He narrowed his and made a ‘I’m-fucking-watching-you’ gesture with is hand and the majority of them balked and turned around on their heels.

Dipper let the bricks peel away from his skin as he held up Mabel’s palm. He squinted at it and made a pleased noise, grabbing Mabel’s other hand.

And then he licked them.

The cuts on her palm disappeared as Mabel let out a suppressed giggle.

“Ta-da.” Dipper spread his arms wide.” No more cuts!” He shook his hands.

Mabel let out a laugh. She hit his shoulder.

“Okay, but warn me next time.” Then her expression became serious.” And thank you. For staying in control. For the most part.” She rolled her shoulders.

Dipper made another pleased noise, which came out as a purr. He smacked his hands over his mouth as Mabel looked at him wide eyed.

“Holy shit, Dipper, you're like a big freaking cat, Dipper _you’re like a big cat!_ ” Mabel laughed and launched herself at him. He quickly pulled his hands away from his mouth to catch her and pulled her into a huge. He twirled her around and kissed her forehead on impulse.

“Now you’re safe.” He muttered and twirled her again, making her let out a squeal of laughter.

“What?” She whispered through her giggles as he put her down on the table.

“I marked you. On your forehead. Now creatures or people with the Sight know not to mess with you. You’re safe. Er.” He ruffled her hair.

“Dipper! You are like a big freaking cat!” Mabel laughed and kicked her feet out.” But thank you.” She smiled at him.

Dipper stuck his tongue out and kicked off of the earth, hovering about a foot off.

“ Just be careful. I don’t want something happening to you.” He looked up from her and glared at the people still watching.

“Yeah, yeah, Dippin’ Dots, I’ll be careful. Now get out of here! I still have two classes after this! But-” She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a tight hug.” Thank you for protecting me.”

Dipper slipped his arms around her and made another purring noise, getting a giggle out of Mabel. He pulled away and made a mock-salute at Mabel.

He slipped away into the Mindscape, his aura full of happy stars. Dipper smiled to himself and put his hands together. He popped into his room at his house and, running off of the energy from the blood( it made him mad that it had been _Mabel_ ’s blood) pulled out one of the sweater’s Mabel had made him.

The one with a glow-in-the-dark Ursa Major constellation on it. He slipped it on and sighed contently to himself.

He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on his knees, watching the bright blue stars dance around him in the air along with the cloudy galaxies of colors.

Dipper could tell that most of them were happy colors.

And he felt good.

Because Mabel was the reason he was happy.

* * *

Dipper was sitting on the couch(above it really) with Mabel, watching some cartoon, when his vision went gold.

He went corporal and slammed into couch.

He clutched his hands to his hands and let out a choked noise as the same words and images went through his head.

_‘RIFT,FORD,RIFT,FORD,SECRETS AND LIES-_

-he saw Ford holding an orb in his hand, the base covered in yellow and black caution stripes-

_-RIFT AND FORD, FORD AND RIFT-_

\- the orb had a galaxy floating in it, twisting and turning-

_-DIMENSIONAL RIFT, RIFT, RIFT’._

The images ran around in his head, over and over and over-

and then he snapped.

He let out a small chuckle, which turned into a roaring cackle as tears flowed down his face. His eyes were pure gold and Mabel was leaning away from him.

Dipper twisted around and snapped his fingers.

He let out a howl as the two silver and tin forks dug themselves into his skin, golden blood starting to dribble out.

“Heh heh, heh heh ha HA HA!” Dipper shoved away from Mabel and his eyes flickered back to black and gold and his pained expression became an angered one.

“FORD!” He screamed, ripping the forks out of his skin.” I’LL GET YOU FOR THIS! YOU HEAR ME, GLASSES?” Dipper’s skin was overcome with bricks and he ripped reality open, jumping over to Gravity Falls in a second.

He heard Mabel let out a alarmed shout behind him as the rip closed and he flowed into the space in front of the Shack, the bricks still flowing up his body.

“ W͞he҉re a̸r̨è ͝y̴ou, Gl͡asse҉s͢?” Dipper hissed and twisted around in a circle for a moment.

“ I̡ ̸fǫund͘ ͟y͢ơu̴~!” Dipper growled and locked his eyes onto the aura under the Shack.

“Dipper?” “Is that you, dood?”

He spun around, the bricks up to his torso.

He frowned and back up.

“Oh my god, it is you!” Wendy yelled. Soos was holding his hands close to his chest.

“What are you doing here, Red?” DIpper muttered. He held up his hand and snap his fingers. A clock was in his hands.

“8:00 am…What…” Dipper crushed the clock.” I don’t have time for this! Glasses is gonna get us all killed!” Dipper howled and shot down, phasing through the earth.

“Dipper, dood, what are you-”

Dipper entered the portal room. He phased through the wall of monitoring equipment. The bricks were up to his neck

“ Glasses! What the hell do you think you’re playing with!?” Dipper yelled at the figure in front of him.

Ford swirled around right as the bricks closed up on his face.

“Dipper?”

“Don’t you ‘Dipper?’ me, Glasses! What the hell do you think you’re doing with that rift!? You’re gonna get us all killed!” Dipper hissed. His eyes flicked to the open compartment and he shot to it, phasing through the metal and yanking the rift through the metal, leaving a hole in the construct.

“What do you think you’re doing!? That’s highly unstab-”

“I know, Ford! I know! I’m a semi-omniscient demon, I know!” Dipper hissed.

He dug his claws through the glass and furrowed them into the rift. He yanked it out of the glass container.

And then he ate it.

“Dipper, what do you think you’re doing!?”

His whole form shuddered. He screamed as he felt something rip out of his back and he curled into himself.

“ M̨͢a̡k̀in͏͡g͠͠ ̷͜s̀u̴͟ŕ̴ę͢ ̢ńo̧͟͠ ̡͟҉o̢ń̨̀e͏ ̷e̢͘̕l̴͜s̸͜͝e̴͠͠ d̛i̢͘e͘s̕!” Dipper whimpered.

He shuddered again and let out a keening sound.

Dipper felt like he was being pulled into a oblivion, like his molecules were being ripped apart, one by one. He howled as the bricks on his skin became highlighted in gold, every single one of them.  He pushed his hands to his ears and dug his fingers into his head.

_SNAP_.

Dipper felt something break in his head-

-and then a flood of information ran into his head.

He let deep panting breaths and pushed himself away into the Mindscape, away from everything, away from people, away from everybody.

Because he didn’t want to lose himself and get Mabel hurt.

* * *

It was another week before Dipper pulled himself out of the MIndscape and floated down to the area around the Shack.

His eyes were half lidded and the bricks on his skin had gone away, but his fingers were still tipped in claws. His eyes were still black and gold. He still had two rows of sharp shark teeth. His ears were pointed. The bat wings sprouting from his lower back were curled around him.

He sleepily looked around.

Nothing looked any different. He hadn’t caused any mass destruction. Good. He looked down at himself and frowned.

His clothes were all ripped. Golden blood was caked over most of it. There were burn marks.

Dipper made a disgusted noise and snapped his fingers.

His messy and destroyed clothes were replaced with a finely tailored suit. He frowned at the triangle cuff links and tapped his fingers to them. The metal crumpled and pulled out into tiny stars. He straightened the jacket, the shirt, and his bowtie. He flattened down his dress pants and straightened his coattails. He waved his hand sleepily over his hand and pulled a top hat out of the air to hover about an inch over his head.

Dipper made a sleepy pleased noise to himself, drifted up to the place where Wendy usually takes brakes, and stopped there. He went into a laid back position, crossing his legs. He hummed to himself.

Dipper twirled his hand and held a broken orb up to face as it appeared in his hand.

He poked at the glass and a thought struck him.

He was corporal. Hmm.

Then his eyes snapped open. He sat straight up and sent the orb away. Dipper pushed off of the roof and landed with a shock wave onto the lawn. He spun around and phased through the front wall of the Shack.

Dipper spun his head around as his eyes caught sight of an alarmed looking Stan, Wendy, and Soos.

He made a disgruntled noise and pushed himself through another wall, twisting his head side to side.

Dipper pushed himself into the basement. He looked at the portal and frowned. He floated towards it and started pulling away the structural supports around it, making it start to wobble, and then crumble down with nothing to keep it up.

He twirled around again and looked around.

“Ford!” He shouted angrily.

His great uncle twisted around, face to face with him.

Dipper made a face and poked him in the chest.” Don’t go pulling that kind of shit again, dummy. You could have killed somebody!” Dipper pushed backwards.

“What-” Ford frowned and made a continue gesture.

“ That was a extremely unstable and massive rift. Your container-” He twirled his hand and the shattered orb appeared in his hand.”-would have only held it for so long. So I ate it. No one else had to die. I have the capacity to handle that kind of power influx without burning up. Barely. The world may or may not have a new desert somewhere. I’m not sure.” His head snapped back to Ford.” The point is, you pulled a dumb move. I’m _fourteen_  and I know that. Don’t do it again.” Dipper frowned and pushed himself through the ground, back into the main part of the Shack.

He dusted off his suit and took a glance at the three people in the room.”What?” Dipper asked self consciously.

And then the realization struck him.

_‘Liar, Monster, Snappy Dresser.’_

“Shit!” Dipper smacked a hand to his mouth as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. He pushed himself back into the MIndscape as Stan shouted at him to stay.

But he couldn’t. He’d been acting like Him. He was dressing like Him. And because he had lied to Mabel. He’d been away for a week.

That hit him the hardest.

Because he had broken his promise.

* * *

Dipper growled to himself.

Mabel wasn’t home and it was a Sunday. Where would she be?

“Mabel!” He shouted. He shot through the Mindscape like a bullet, and only stopped when he felt a tugging in the place where his stomach would be if he were physical.

Some one was summoning him. And there was way too much blood for it to be Mabel.

He growled and let the bricks cross over his body. He could tell gold was trailing from his eyes and his howling mouth.

Dipper appeared in Bill’s summoning circle and his growled.

And then his eyes locked onto the body in front of him.

Mabel’s palms were split open, blood pooling from them. A knife was being held at the back of her neck. She was taking slow but shallow breaths.

There were men and women in robes all around him. He ignored all of their words and shot out of the summoning circle, not even feeling the chains and bonds snap.

He snatched up Mabel and held her close to his chest. He pressed her hands to his chest and made the cuts vanish.

Then he stared at the frightened cult members and let out a primal roar.

“ H̨͇̝͉̼̮̯̀o҉̛̤̠͔͙͓w̸̶͚̲̮͉̹ͅͅ ̦͇͜d̙̜͇̠̥͎͓̜͓͟a̹͓̻̤̭̭̱̕͞r̵̬̩̣̭͠ę̦̙̺͕̼̼͘ ̧̛̞̩̠͉ý̢͙̗̯̲̦͘o҉̩͈̟u̸̻̘͇̗̺͎̪͝ͅ!” Dipper howled.” H̛͚̙̙̜͇͕́͜o̸̰͓̱w҉҉̻̱̖ ̵̢̖̹̞̩̪̗͚̖d̜̗̗̲͘a̡͚̥̬̗̝̳̥r̡̻̗e̶̢̟ ̴̢͍̯̩̬y̡̡̰͚̦̼͇̦͢o̡͈̫͇͝u̧̙͚͈̱͇͟͞ ͚͔͎͈͈́t̸̫̟͎̹̪̤̀o̧͏͓̹̣͕̭u̼̟̞̼̘c̸͟͏̯͍͎͍̜̘̘͓h̷̛͈͉ ̨͙̘̳̱M̴̛̹̖͡i̷̛̜̺̳̜̣z̛҉̩̗ą̛̻̥͖̜r͏͓̰̼̥̙!́҉͔̦͖͙̩͞ ͡҉̨͇̝͔H̸̸̬̖̠̗̹ơ̢̡̳̲̪̼̙̬͇̘w̠̩̘͎̘͙̗̩͢͡ ͏̹͔̼̘̫d͉͉̦̖͕̰̯͡a̡̙̰̣̜̲̠̞͢ṟ̶̣͈̦͎͚͖̹̝̕e̺̩͚ ̥͙͙̣̻̤͈̩y̢͍o͚̺̠̤̗̗̬̦͘͟ṳ̸̴̴̪̦͇̫̞ ̰̺̺͖͖̱́͝t̯̘̘̲̦̫́͠o̷̹̖̦ư̝̰̠̦̝̱ͅc̵̶҉̲̪̱̗̦̹̮̺h̭̺̭ ̵̥̺͚͍̦m̧̳̬͍̜̤̯̙y̨̢̮̝̬̳͝ ̘̫̯̗T̹͖̟͔̥̘͟͢w̵͡҉ͅͅi̩̠͚̞̼̟̦̪͞͝n̨̮̩̣̕ș͚̟t̻̀ḁ̴̧͍͔̭͝ṟ!̜͓͙̱͞ͅ ̴̞͖̺͠H̵͙͔̥̺͚̭͔o̶͚̖̜͖̺͔͠w͖̙͘͠ ̹̮d̵͍̺͕̬̪͜͞a̢͖͍̗̙̬͚̗̕͞ͅr̻̬͈͇͕͠e̘̫̼̩̠̯ ̴̧͕̙̫̰̩ͅy҉̗̦̖͙̗o̰̻̗̬̥ư̶̧̥̦̹͖ ̡̭͍̖̘̝s̢̨̙͇̺͈̮̼̜̬ú̼͚̬͝m̸̸̮͍̥̥̼̕m̛̫̳͙̙͜o̪̯̹͈͚ͅn҉̲͈̼͕̩ ̀҉̴̰͔̺ͅA̧̩̤͖͇̕ͅl͏̸̛̦͎̮͚̮̜̦̖ͅç̱͎͍͔̱̦̮͘ó̵̗͉̹̝̳͝r̟̼͖̻͇͚̤̪ ̶̧͓͖̜̹͚͉̜̪͟t̮̙̤̱̹h̤̯͇͚͙͘ȩ̱̥͍ ̨̭͚͉̬̩D̴̖̼͕͇̟̯r̬̰̭̯̠̺e͙̱̲͚a̩̠̮̲̞̖̪̹m̰̦̣̙̫͔̩͘b̡̙̣e̫͓̩̮̻̲̻n̨̢̲̬͖̠͕d̷̳̠̬̼͇̀è̗̞̱̱̖r͔̗̗̘͇̻̣̩!̥̖̥̠͝ ͍̲̀Ḫ̨̛̟̣̤̖̪̮͍͝o̯͇͎͜w̸̬̦̲̱͠ ͏̷̟̝̣̞̬̤͜ͅd͞҉͔͎͔a̵̞̘͈̠̫͜r̶͔̳̮͈̰͢ͅe̵͉̻͚͉͍̘͡͡ ̩͎̲͓̭̖̺y̩̼͕͚̘͞o͎̠̝̣̤͉̝͜ͅu̡͞ͅ ̢̖̦ş̸̪͓͙u̹̘͖͕̥m̵͍̝͇͕̘͎̥̼̀m͔̫̝̖̪̱̯͠o͈̹̗̯̠ͅn̸̸͕͖̝̩͍̗̩̼̳ ̻̣͝m̶̺̩̼͎͈̯̱̘͝e̹̯̪̙̞̝͉ ̵̬̬͖̲͇̮w̧҉̸̦̦͕̺i͏̡̭̼̝̰t̯̩͈ḫ́͘͡ ̖t̶̨̘̜ͅh̶͈̞e͉͍̫̤̠̟͓ ̹͎̭͙̗̭̕b̡͔͖l̙̳͓̬ͅo̡̨̞͚̳̺̫̲ǫ̸̮̜̲̜͙d͓̻ ͡҉͉͈̼͉͝o̢҉̠̣͇̤̺͎͎̟̩f̢̬̜̮̘͞ ͔m̴̲̙͕̯̙͚͓y̨̧̩̣͇̯͙̺ ̘͔̲̹͕̤̀͟s̛̙͖̠͔͖͚ị̭̦̟̭̘b̮̺̮͎͜ļ̗̱͔i҉̟̞̫͇̟͔n̷̜͙̤̘̙͠g͇͉!” He set Mabel away from him, covering her in a shield of blue fire she couldn’t see through.

And then Dipper let loose.

He spun through the cult, slicing away with his claws and ripping apart hearts and peeling away souls. He roared and curled his claws into flesh, letting blood splatter everywhere. He ripped people open and slaughtered everything like a butcher.

Dipper didn’t know he had started to laugh, but he knew he was. He huffed in the middle of a pool of blood. He held up a clawed hand and ten glowing orbs rushed to him. He spread them wide and popped each one into his mouth like candy.

He let out a satisfied noise and flexed his wings and hands.

Dipper let out a sick chuckle and twirled his hand. The blood and gore disappeared from the room and from his suit.

He licked his fingers and walked over to the half-sphere of blue fire as tears started to run down his face. He pulled the fire away and into his hands, falling into Mabel’s lap as he cried.

Mabel let out an alarmed noise as he curled into her lap, choked sobs wracking his body as his wings curled into his sides. He put his hands to his mouth and whimpered.

“Dipper? Dipper...what...oh.” He felt Mabel’s arms pull him closer.” Oh, Dipper...I’m so sorry...I’m so, so sorry…”

“Mabel...Mabel I…” He let out a shuddering breath.

“I know...I heard...but it’s okay. I’m still here. And I still love you.”

Dipper’s sobs got worse and he shuddered. But one ray of sunshine danced around in his head, that made him feel a little bit better. He was still loved by somebody. It made him feel happy. It made him feel less horrible.

Because Mabel still loved him.

* * *

The last day of school for Mabel was really weird.

The whole school was cautious when Mabel came to school with a ton of suitcases. And a demon.

Everybody had nearly had a heart attack when she laid out a summoning circle in front of the school on the sidewalk in chalk. Everyone had nearly fainted when a demon actually came out of it. And everyone had nearly died when they recognised said demon.

It was Dipper Pines.

But not.

He was wearing a suit with long coattails and a floating top hat. He had black and gold eyes. He had two rows of shark teeth. He had claws and pointed ears. And he had bat-like wings coming from his lower back.

They all knew it was Dipper Pines. They could see the facial resemblance in him and Mabel. They could see how they interacted. They could *hear* Mabel call him Dipper.

But what had really stuck them was when she had called him Alcor the Dreambender.

Because they all knew that name. A demon that had popped up recently, that was feared and had destroyed more than one cult for sacrificing children or asking for world domination. He held cosmic power. He had slayed Bill Cipher, an Elite Class Demon.

And that was all within three months.

But somehow they had never noticed the connection. They had never noticed that with the disappearance of Dipper Pines came the arrival of Alcor the Dreambender.

The whole student body was numb with the realization until the bell for school’s out rang and Dipper and Mabel were out front first again.

And were surrounded by a horde of supernatural.

There were Manotaurs, a bear with multiple heads, griffons, fey, and loads more. And they were all there for the Pines Twins.

And they didn’t understand. They didn’t understand any of it. They didn’t understand what had happened to Dipper. They didn’t understand why he was this shy conspiracy kid that had turned into a feared demon. They didn’t understand why Mabel still trusted him. They didn’t understand why they wanted to go back to Gravity Falls. They didn’t understand anything.

But they mostly didn’t understand the Pines Twins.

**  
**Because somehow they managed to smile at the world like nothing was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for staying with me till the end!


End file.
